A couple of years ago, I bought a Splash O2 external battery case for my iPhone 3GS. It made the phone much bulkier, but made the battery last much, much longer. On busy travel, hockey game, or conference days, it sometimes made the difference between having a working phone at the end of the day, or not. So, I charged it up and popped it on the phone before such trips, but otherwise left it in a drawer.

Last fall, I upgraded to an iPhone 4S, but there was no obvious choice of external ...

As a frequent traveler, and frequent resident of many hotel rooms, one of the first things I use to pick up before anything else, was the rooms' TV remote control. I don't like getting into a quiet room, so I would immediately locate the remote to turn the TV on to get some noise.

That was, until I watched an ABC News story back in 2010 about the dangers that lurk in the room. Their story;  "7 Hidden Hotel Germ Magnets" highlights that as clean as your room seems, it may not be. ...

I was getting some work done this morning on UA 517 from Atlanta to Chicago, and I had things organized on my tray table quite nicely. I had my 11" MacBook Air on the left, where I was working. On the right, I had my iPhone propped up against my Diet Coke can so I could watch some video podcasts while getting work done.

As I was working, the flight attendant came over to me, and he handed me an updside down coffee cup with a portion of the cup ...

We've mentioned a couple of solar-charging options for electronic handheld devices in passing, but couldn't resist the opportunity to talk about this latest approach: the solar bikini.

Solar Coterie is now taking orders for custom bikinis fitted with 1x4-inch photovoltaic film strips, connected via conductive thread and ending in a 5-volt regulator with a USB port. Plug in your iPod, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, or pretty much any device that charges with a USB port, and it should ...

I know this post will only apply to my fellow geeks out there in travel land, but I use it enough that it's worth sharing. iPhone jailbreaking is the process of hacking your iPhone so that you can run unofficial code on it, allowing you to load a multitude of unofficial applications, tweaks, and generally anything you can't get from the App Store. You can get more information about how to do it here. Yes, it's totally legal.

There's a ...

Few technology announcements have been as eagerly anticipated or breathlessly covered as this week's revelation from Verizon Wireless that they'll be offering a version of Apple's popular iPhone. Let's take a look at whether this phone is a good choice for travelers.

It may be your only choice. You may be tied to Verizon Wireless because it's the only carrier that works well in your area or areas you visit often, because you're on a family plan with VZW subscribers who don't want to ...